


How many Candy Canes have you eaten?

by ONeillwith2ls



Series: Shipmas2020 [7]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28172121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ONeillwith2ls/pseuds/ONeillwith2ls
Summary: Written for #Shipmas 2020.He'll fall for anyone but her.Buy Why?
Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill
Series: Shipmas2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2063742
Comments: 12
Kudos: 43





	How many Candy Canes have you eaten?

Jack walked into the bar. He was surprised when he received the call, apparently from her cell phone, only to answer it to hear not her voice on the line, but the bartender at some swanky bar asking him to come pick up the beautiful blonde who had walked in two hours ago. The bartender, Alan, was worried because she was way over the limit and any one of the men in the bar could take advantage of her. Apparently Jack was the first name on her favorites list. After getting the address of the bar, Jack had thanked the man, gotten dressed, and headed down to the bar without any reservations to get his blonde. Something had to be up if she was drinking heavily in public.

He spotted her at the bar, chatting to said bartender. Jack headed over, not being able to help overhearing.

"Come on, Alan," she half whined and half flirted, "I can make it worth your while." She told him before she bit her bottom lip and fluttered her eyelashes. The bartender shook his head as she continued to plead her case. "Whatever happened to supply and deman--?" Her speech was slurred. (Not a good sign, Jack thought, knowing that Sam could hold her own when it came to drinking, except tequila). She paused then burst into giggles. "Oh my god! Deman-d, de-man, it sounds like de-mon." She sighed, before taking another sip of the pink liquid drink in front of her. "I've met a demon before, well the devil actually -- several in fact, and you know what I did to them?"

At this point, Jack stepped forward, deciding a breach in national security probably isn't what a sober Sam would want.

"Alan, was it?" Jack asked out loud, as he came to stand next to a very inebriated Sam.

"Sir!" She exclaimed happily, jumping up and her arms wrapping around his neck.

"Jack." He mouthed to the bartender.

The bartender looked relieved, knowing that he no longer had to give the blonde his full attention any longer. Alan was a seasoned bartender and took his responsibilities seriously. He shot Jack a thankful look and Jack nodded in response.

"Carter," He said softly, getting out his wallet, not quite sure whether he was either paying for the drinks again or tipping the bartender heavily for keeping an eye on Sam. "Whatchadoin?" 

"Drinking this!" She exclaimed, only pulling back far enough to grab the pink cocktail from the bar and brought the glass up to his mouth so fast he had no choice but to swallow the liquid. "Good. Huh?" She giggled.

"Urgh! Carter, what the hell is that?" He asked, gasping on the sweetness of the drink.

"Strawberry vodka, cranberry juice, ice, white creme de menthe—that’s where the minty taste comes from!" She almost squealed as she answered him, pressing her body against him. Somehow, she managed to put her drink back on the bar counter without sloshing it everywhere.

"Ya don't say?" He asked her, looking at her with a worried look on his face as she swung back to him, keeping one arm firmly around his neck. No wonder the bartender was concerned, this wasn't like her at all. His body subconsciously reacted to the Sam’s proximity as he tried to pull back slightly.

"It’s called a 'Candy Cane," She told him now, ignoring his reaction, pressed herself against him again. "Don't you think it tastes like a Candy Cane?" She asked before continuing so fast, he didn't even get a chance to answer. "And look the powder round the sides – crushed candy canes -- how cool is that?!" She giggled again. "Hey, I wonder if the drink doesn't actually taste like candy canes at all, maybe it’s the candy cane powder which tastes like it, maybe I should lick it off--" Turning back to the bar, she started reaching for the glass again.

"I'm not letting you lick that glass, Carter." He told her with his best commanding officer’s voice.

She huffed slightly. She reached beside the glass to a small pile of candy canes. "At least I still have plenty of these!" She exclaimed before she started giggling again. "He gave me one every time I ordered a Candy Cane."

"Vodka and sugar, eh?" He eyed the three pieces of candy and tried to assess the sugar and alcohol damage. " **Carter, how many Candy Canes have you eaten?"**

"Three." She held up her hand, five fingers up.

"Okay, you're either so drunk or so much on a sugar high that you can't count." Again, speaking in soft tones to her again, he picked up her belongings and gently started to lead her through the bar towards the door.

She leaned into him heavily. Her arm hadn't left his neck and shoulders since she first saw him. "That would be bad, 'specially if I couldn't count at work!" She said, with a sing song tone.

"Yes, it would." He told her firmly, but not unkindly. "How'd ya get here, Carter?" He asked her as they stood outside the bar. 

"My bike." She told him, pointing off towards the parking lot across the street. Thankfully, he parked in the same place. But in his rush to get to Carter, he didn’t even notice her bike. He kept an eye out for any familiar faces as they made their way to the lot. It wouldn’t do any good for either of their reputations if anyone saw them at the moment.

"I'll get it into the truck." He informed her. “But first, let’s get you in the truck.” 

"Sure." She slurred. "But be careful with our baby--" she paused, finally realizing what she said had said was somehow funny when she started giggling again. "Ours! Me and you!" She laughed as they reached his truck. "I'm pretty sure our babies will be cuter than that motorcycle!" She exclaimed, before she surprised him, pinning him to his truck and pressing herself fully against him, so that their bodies touched from their hips to their chests as her arms wrapping around his neck as she tried to get even closer.

"Whoa there, Carter." He told her softly, not wanting to hurt her. He placed his hands on her hips to give them some distance.

"Why is it anyone?" She asked him, a plaintive tone in her question, as she tried to pull away. “Why not me?”

"Excuse me?" He asked her. His hands held her still.

"Why is it anyone but me?" She asked him. His shoulder dropped as he looked into her tear-filled eyes and saw the pain behind them when she continued, coherency in the drunk voice. "Laria, Kynthia -- anyone-- but me."

"Look, Carter--" he started before she interrupted.

"I can be whoever you want me to be. I  _ can _ change. I will change. I'll be whoever you want me to be. I want you to love me too." She plaintively told him, her blue eyes pleading with him.

“Oh, Carter.” Jack finally understood what was happening with his Carter. It was this time of year that brought this about. He knew what he wanted this woman in his life but knew that it was not possible now. He had no idea what the future held for them, but he knew she would be a part of it. Just not right now.

He pulled slightly away but both of his hands cupped her face softly making sure he had eye contact. "Don't you dare change a single thing about yourself, Samantha Carter, not for me, not for anyone. No one is worth that. Do you understand me?" He told her firmly.

Her face screwed as tears started to fall. "Yes sir." She managed to strangle out. 

He looked again into her eyes as he wiped away her tears. When he saw more was coming than he could catch, he whispered “C’mere” as pulled her into a hug again, allowing her to sob into his shoulder for a few minutes, as he stroked her hair gently. Closing his eyes, he breathed in the scent of her and relished the feeling of having her so close, trying to comfort her as much as he could.

"Don't you change. Don't you ever change." He whispered. "What would I do without you?"

"But you never want me, you never wanted--"

"No, not never." He whispered, admitting to her what he always hid from her. "Always. I have always--"

He didn't get to finish his sentence because she captured his lips with her. 

Jack, of course, could remember the only time they kissed. The locker room. But he had always discounted her aggressive style as being a side effect of the virus, and while this kiss wasn't aggressive, there was something oddly familiar about the way she felt against his lips as she deepened it. He found himself reacting much as he did that day, really wanting it to continue, but really really needing her to snap out of it. Slowly he pulled back, flushed, and so off balanced that he had to break away from her arms and brace his hands onto the truck behind her. 

"Now, if you had said that to me sober--" he whispered huskily to her, pressing his forehead to hers. He didn’t pull away when she reached up again and kissed him.

Knowing he should stop her, he allowed himself to relish the moment, but he knew it had to end before it went too far.

“Carter—" he finally whispered, his hands stroking her cheeks as she pulled back without opening her eyes.

“Just a minute, just this one minute, please love me. Let me feel loved.” She whispered.

He had no will nor power not to comply. He rubbed his nose with hers while he leaned in tracing his lips with hers, he heard the momentary groan from her throat before he whispered, “If I could love you, just for a minute, I’d take that minute, and extend it to eternity. To the world it would be sixty seconds, to us sixty years, and we could spend our lifetimes together." 

She felt the flutter in her stomach and the familiar heat below.

"But you want to know the truth, if I did, if I shared this with you for sixty seconds then it might as well be sixty years, because once I started loving you, I would never stop." He said, voicing his thoughts so strongly that it her look up, her eyes shuffle from the safety of his chest to see the truth in his eyes. 

"You want me?" She whispered.

He shook his head before the words slipped out. "No, Carter, I need you." He revealed. "And I know this is selfish, but I need you by my side. If they know about this, you know they'll take you away from me."

"Yeah." She agreed reluctantly.

"And I don't want to ruin your career, Sam. You're going to get those stars one day."

She chuckled bitterly. "What's a career without love?"

"I'll always love you." He whispered before he wrapped her inside his arms again. “And if one day, I can make it happen, I will. But for now, it has to be like this.”

They stood there snug against the side of his truck for a few minutes, hidden from the view, before he whispered, "Come on, let’s get you home."


End file.
